1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to surgical instrumentation and more particularly to an instrument and method for dissecting connective tissues along a plane between muscle layers to mobilize a muscle in reconstruction of a breast after a mastectomy or for other plastic surgery.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Following a mastectomy, a breast may be reconstructed in certain patients with importation of a vascularized flap. The two most frequently employed options of importing such flaps are a latissimus dorci mycutaneous flap procedure and a transverse abdominal mastoplasty (TRAM flap). In such procedures, varying amounts of skin are transferred from either the patient's back or abdomen to a breast in a single operative procedure, along with intact muscle and an intact arteriovenous system. In current practice, muscles are mobilized in such flap procedures in an open surgical approach by dissecting around the muscle and arteriovenous system with conventional sharp dissecting instruments which is time-consuming.